Monday, September 27, 2010

The Pavillon of Belvedere situated on a pond over looking the English garden next to a stone grotto

Marie Antoinette is the only queen to have imposed her personal taste on Versailles in a grand style. Sweeping away the old court and its ancient traditions, she insisted on living as she wished. In her Trianon domain, which Louis XVI gave her in 1774, she found the heaven of privacy that enabled her to escape from the rigours of court etiquette. Nobody could come there without her invitation.

Marie Antoinette and children happy in the gardens of the Petite Trianon

The octagonal carved marble Belvedere was use as a teahouse where Marie Antoinette served tea, her self. Situated on a pond over looking the English garden next to a stone grotto, It was a favorite entertainment place for Marie Antoinette and her court. This building is a perfect illustration of the 18th century’s taste for picturesque compositions combining decorative gardens and architecture.The octagonal Belvedere was built between (1778-81), and consecrated to the four Seasons, in the newly-informal gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

The octagonal Belvedere was built between (1778-81), and consecrated to the four Seasons

The octagonal Belvedere was built between (1778-81), and consecrated to the four Seasons

Salon du Rocher with stucco walls highlighted by arabesque and floral patterns are rounded off by polychrome marble tiles.

Guarded by figures of sphinxes framing each of the flights of steps, The Belevedere was also known as the pavilion of music, and was decorated with murals inspired by the paintings of Pompeii. The richness of its stucco decor on a white background highlighted by colorful arabesque and floral patterns. the Belvedere is built in the classical style matching that of the Temple of Love.The Grotto, located downhill from it, is a totally artificial rock feature, designed and sketched by the painter Hubert Robert, in the form of a pendant in a contrasting aesthetic style. Outside, it is decorated with sculptures by Deschamps: a fruit frieze garland once painted with colors, pediments evoking the pleasures of hunting and gardening, window imposts symbolizing the four seasons. The circular living room is paved with a marble mosaic tiles in interlocking semicircle and stair pattern.

Furnishing the Pavillion of the Belvedere. The furnishing of the Belvedere was some of the most expensive items Marie Antoinette ordered. The pieces are very will documented as the original bills exist in the Archives Nationale in Paris. and were used in her trial during the French Revolution. In 1780, François Foliot made eight gilt wood armchairs and eight side chairs, designed in the Neoclassical style with carved bands of ivy, laurel wreaths, and fluting, they stood in the salon du Rocher of the Belvedere Pavilion, designed by Jacques Gondoin. This was one of Foliot’s last commissions before being replaced in the Queen’s favor by Georges Jacob. It is possible that the sculptor of the beautiful hymen’s torch uprights on the back and the pierced seat rail were sculpted by Foliot’s uncle, Nicolas Quinibert Foliot. What made this seating furniture so expensive was the hand embroidered gold and silver threads on a cream background.

An armchair designed by Foliot for Marie Antoinette. This is the sole survivor of a suite of eight armchairs for which the bills exist in the Archives Nationale. The carving and gently curving back reflects the decorative scheme devised by the architect Gondoin for the circular Pavilion in the grounds of the Petite Trianon.

Cups and saucers from my collection ordered by Marie Antoinette from her porcelain factory in Paris Rue Thiroux.

Instead of ordering porcelain from the Royal porcelain factory of Sèvres. Marie Antoinette ordered porcelain from her porcelain factory in Paris under André Leboeuf on rue Thiroux. She chose a pattern that complimented her marble mosaic tile floor in interlocking semicircle and stair pattern. I'm lucky to own five tea cups and saucers ordered and used by Marie Antoinette in her grand circular Salon du Rocher in the Pavillion of the Belvedere at Versailles! As it is known that Marie Antoinette served tea herself in this elegant salon, so Marie Antoinette touch my cups! I like to think about what was talked about over a nice cup of hot tea with Marie Antoinette and friends.

Cups and saucers from my collection ordered by Marie Antoinette from her porcelain factory in Paris Rue Thiroux. The cups and saucers have a pattern that resemble the marble mosaic tile floor in interlocking semicircle and stair pattern.

Cups and saucers from my collection ordered by Marie Antoinette from her porcelain factory in Paris Rue Thiroux. The cups and saucers have a pattern that resemble the marble mosaic tile floor in interlocking semicircle and stair pattern.

Cups and saucers from my collection ordered by Marie Antoinette from her porcelain factory in Paris Rue Thiroux with the Crowned A mark for Marie Antoinette

Sunday, September 26, 2010

One of my favorite pieces of porcelain at the Louvre is a large over 6 foot high 18th century Sèvres porcelain vase in the antique Medici Vase form, greatly admired in France since the seventeenth century when Colbert commissioned copies for Versailles. This vase was commissioned by the Earl of Angiviller of the Garde-Meuble of Crown and delivered to Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette at Versailles in 1783.

It is the largest Sevres porcelain vase made in the eighteenth century thanks to the strength of hard paste porcelain. Louis-Simon Boizot (1773-1809) designed the shape and Neoclassical decoration in bisque porcelain. The bronzes are the work of Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843). Placed in the castle of Saint-Cloud in 1807, the vessel received its pedestal in 1840 at the request of Louis-Philippe. The model is the sculptor Henry Triqueti (1804-1874).

Design by Louis-Simon Boizot

Louis-Simon Boizot was appointed head of the sculpture workshop of the Manufacture de Sevres in 1773. He gave many models of sculptures and vases, but his name has been immortalized by this monumental vase in the Musée du Louvre. It was possible to achieve such a vessel through the use of hard porcelain. Boizot designed the form called "Medici" which he used to showcase the band of relief bisque which runs along the neck. The vase is composed of several elements. The headband biscuit is made in one piece that caused difficulties in manufacturing requiring exceptional agility and technical skill in execution. On one side the relief represents Diane awarding the prize of the hunt and the other a surprise Diane Endymion. The rest of the vase is glazed cobalt blue. This combination of glazed porcelain and matt biscuit is a major feature of the style of Louis XVI at Sevres.

Bronze ormolu by Pierre-Philippe Thomire

The minutely chased gold gilt and antiqued bronze figure prominently in the decoration of this vase. Inspired by neoclassical friezes they include ovals, palm leaves, acanthus leaves and garlands of flowers hanging on the handles on which stand two women dressed in antique. With this vase, Thomire began his illustrious career at Sevres. This large vase was intended to form a pair. The second vessel was to receive a decoration in low relief depicting The Toilet of Venus, on the one hand, and Venus on the water, on the other. The band was never completed due to technical problems and was replaced by a bronze decoration also Thomire. This second Grand Vase is kept at the Pitti Palace in Florence. In addition to the Louvre museum houses a large reduction of these two vases.

The pedestal according to Henry Triqueti

In the eighteenth century, the vase was presented without base. This pedestal was commissioned by Louis-Philippe (1773-1850) to complement the vase at the Chateau de Saint-Cloud. The vase was housed in the Apollo Gallery of the castle of St. Cloud from 1807 to 1853. The model is the work of Henri de Triqueti. The base is confined to heads of deer bronze patina. Above a frieze bisque is made with allegorical figures about the four elements. The main body of each face is a square plate Bisque and supervision of foliage plants in ormolu porcelain blue background. This decor combining biscuit porcelain enameled in blue and gilt bronze may have been suggested by Alexandre Brongniart (director of the factory from 1800 to 1847) to match the vase which incorporates the decorative. The decor of this basement is borrowed from ancient times to the directory and the Renaissance, emblematic association of the July Monarchy and especially Triqueti.

The Grand Medici Vase Sèvres 1783

The second Grand vase was to receive a decoration in low relief depicting The Toilet of Venus, on the one hand, and Venus on the water, on the other. The band was never completed due to technical problems and was replaced by a bronze decoration also Thomire. This second Grand Vase is kept at the Pitti Palace in Florence.

When I go to great museum estates, I try to find features that are off the beaten path. Mostly to avoid typical tourist! In the case of the Palace of Versailles fifteen years ago when I first visited the château it was not a overly crowded place as it is today. I discovered the Buffet d' eau or Buffet fountain on the outskirts of the Grand Trianon gardens. The fountain is somewhat off the beaten path as the walk to it is not a grand as it would have originally been. Dirt roads lead to it in the middle of no where. The fountain sits by it self in a forest of greenery without the flowers and statues you see in the rest of the Trianon gardens.

Called the Buffet d' eau because this amazing fountain is shaped like a buffet or serving piece of furniture of the late Louis XIV period. The fountain was built during the fourth building campaign (1699–1710) which was the last building campaign of Louis XIV at Versailles. During this building campaign Louis XIV architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart design the Buffet d' eau it was placed in the Trianon gardens in 1703 .

The fountain is made up of rouge and white marble and ornamented with beautifully detailed bronze & lead sculptures by Mazière, Le Lorrain, Hardy, Poirier and Van Clève. The whimsical figures would have originally been 22k gold leafed making a striking contrasts between the different colored marbles. Upon first seeing the fountain it looks like something out of Disney's The Little Mermaid. There's playful ducks, Mythological water gods and goddess, lobsters, lions and water cupids enjoying the water. This was one of over a thousand fountains at Versailles during the period of Louis XIV, it is my favorite!

Buffet d' eau

Mythological water gods and goddess

Detail of Mythological water gods and goddess

Sea man

Sea man

Playful duck

Sea children with lobsters

Lion

Water basin

Detail of figures

Detail of figures

How the fontaine du Buffet d'Eau dans les jardins du Grand Trianon looked during the time of Louis XIV by Charles Chatelain

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

We often see men who have none of the strong qualities of their sex, and we call them weak and womanish, but a man was found here several days ago who bore every outward semblance of a woman, insomuch that it was difficult to determine whether to grant him a passport as a woman or man. Every feature of his face resembles that of a woman, and his skin is soft and downy to the touch that we find upon the "fair sex." His shape, form and hair all bear such striking resemblance to that of a woman that he is often thought to be a woman in disguise. In our neighboring city of Augusta, we are informed, he was arrested while in female apparel; and he even states that he has often, for motives of his own, passed himself off in various towns for a woman.

He is quite a curiosity in appearance, and would prove quite a fortune to any such a genius as Barnum

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria visited Marie Antoinette and her husband on 7 February 1775 at the Château de la Muette.

Gold Snuffbox with a Portrait Miniature of Louis XVI on Ivory by Pierre Noel Violet 1780

It was formerly the custom for French Kings to make important presents to visiting princes,foreign sovereigns and their ambassadors, and indeed to anyone who had rendered them some signal service. It was not only Europeans who benefited from this custom. Gifts were sent to the Grand Turk, the Dey of Algiers, and even the Emperor of China. The most usual present was a gold box, but all the Manufactures Royales were put under contribution. Gobelins tapestries, Sevres porcelain and Savonnerie carpets were all given at one time or another; even furniture and sculpture were presented, though more rarely. The gold boxes have mostly been melted down for cash, but a selection of surviving presents given by Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette have been identified in the sixty-three manuscript registers of Royal gifts which extend from 1640-1789.

George Washington 1799

The signature of the Treaty of Versailles, in 1783, brought and end of the American War of Independence. On that occasion, Louis XVI ordered a series of Beauvais tapestries representing the four parts of the world, as well as two sofas and twelve armchairs to match to be sent to George Washington. It was, of course, out of the question to use old cartoons showing America as a country peopled by plumed savages and exotic animals. Something new was in order, and a refurbished iconography was commissioned to a rather obscure painter by the name of Lebarbier. In the redesigned tapestry a new and young America, that of the recently freed British colonists, holds out a fraternal helping hand to Indian Americans, and in the other hand brandishes the flag of the new republic. This flattering, almost prophetic allegory was not finished till the French Revolution. It was sold in 1795 to pay off a debt of the young French Republic and did not reach America till the 20th century.

Benjamin Franklin Portrait by Joseph Siffred Duplessis

As America's first diplomat to France Benjamin Franklin was leaving office in 1784 to return home to America, French King Louis XVI presented the great diplomat a present of the kind often giving to a departing diplomat. The king had his portrait painted in miniature by Louis Sicardÿ (1746-1825). The portrait was surrounded by 408 diamonds in two concentric rings with a crown at top. Franklin, who offered the gift to the nation to forestall any suspicion of impropriety. With the approval of Congress, and Jefferson's blessing, the portrait was his, and passed as a special line item in his will to his daughter Sarah Bache. Franklin placed a condition upon his bequest .

Portrait miniature giving by King Louis XVI to Benjamin Franklin

The King of France's Picture set with Four hundred and eight Diamonds, I give to my Daughter, Sarah Bache, requesting however that she would not form any of those Diamonds into Ornaments either for herself of Daughters and thereby introduce or countenance the expensive, vain and useless Fashion of wearing Jewels in this Country, and that those immediately connected with the Picture may be preserved with the same.

Franklin was talking about young unmarried lady's in the New world wearing diamonds during the day or all day long. In Europe married lady's only wore diamonds at evening events, such as opera, dinner, dance etc as the rosecut diamonds of the 18th century were meant to be seen in candlelight. So it's nothing new today to see woman in America with diamonds on during the day and unmarried, as this was a problem going back to the 18th century. This was considered trashy in Europe and not of good taste. Sarah complied. But once in her hands, she removed the outer ring of diamonds to sell to finance a planned excursion to Europe. Some people have suggested that Sarah justified her action by arguing that while Benjamin disapproved of jewelry, he approved education, and if nothing else, travel is educational.

Over the years the portrait was passed down thru the generations with each taking its toll on the diamonds will into the mid 20th century. When the miniature was presented to APS in 1959 only the inner ring and a single diamond remained.

Maria Feodorovna

In September 1781, under the pseudonyms of "the Count and Countess Severny," the heir to the Russian throne Paul and his wife Maria Feodorovna set off on a journey that lasted fourteen months and took them to Poland, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Paris made a special impression on the couple. Madame Vigee Le Brun wrote in her memoirs about Maria's husband Paul. “Paul was exceedingly ugly,” “A flat nose, and a very large mouth furnished with very long teeth, made him look like a death's head.” Maria Feodorovna was tall, fair, fresh, buxom and rosy cheeked with a sunny disposition. Maria cultivated the arts with great enthusiasm, not disdaining even needlework.She was skilled in watercolor, she also knew engraving, designed cameos, and created objects of ivory and amber, which she often presented as gifts. She was a gifted musician, and was a renowned specialist in horticulture, with a lifelong passion for flowers and plants.

Maria Feodorovna

During there visit French Queen Marie Antoinette presented Marie Feodorovna with a Neoclassical Sèvres porcelain service de toilette in porcelaine de France, as the set was called then. The Toilet set of porcelain was considered some of the most beautiful porcelain made at Sèvres during the Louis XVI period. The set comprises over sixty pieces of "jewelled Sevres" painted in gold over underglaze lapis lazuli blue ground with classical subjects in gold gilt, and having applied solid gold mounted decorations of the utmost delicacy, with tiny drops of colored enamels fused onto the surface to imitate precious stones. This technique was considered at the time to be the last word in the art of porcelain decoration. Of superb craftsmanship is the oval mirror adorned with the white figures of the Three Graces in biscuit porcelain. Models for these sculptures and for the playing amorini on the pair of porcelain jewelry boxes were made by Louis Simon Boizot, director of sculpture at the Sevres factory. There was even a tongue scraper. The gold and bronze decorations are the work of Jean Claude Duplessis, goldsmith to the French court, and the jewelling was done by the enameller Joseph Cotteau, the inventor of this technique. This masterpiece which won world-wide fame, cost the royal exchequer 75,000 livres, about a million in today's money, and no other set like it was made ever since.

Neoclassical Sèvres porcelain service de toilette in porcelaine de France

Neoclassical Sèvres porcelain service de toilette in porcelaine de France

Detail of Sèvres porcelain service de toilette

Detail of Sèvres porcelain service de toilette

Detail of Sèvres porcelain service de toilette

During their travels they saw the palaces and French gardens of Versailles and Chantilly, which strongly influenced the future appearance of Pavlovsk Park. They ordered more sets of porcelain and purchased statues, busts, paintings, furniture and paintings, all for Pavlovsk Palace. When visiting the famous Sevres factory, they acquired various porcelain goods for the astronomical sum of 300,000 livres. While they traveled, they kept in contact almost daily with Kuchelbecker, the supervisor of construction at Pavlovsk, sending back and forth drawings, plans and notes on the smallest details.

Fireplace in the State Bedroom

Paul and Maria Feodorovna returned in November 1782, and they continued to fill Pavlovsk with art objects. A shipment of antique marbles, statues, busts, urns, and pottery discovered and purchased at Pompei, arrived in 1783. Sixteen sets of furniture, over two hundred pieces, were ordered from Paris between 1783 and 1785 for the State Rooms. In 1784, twelve Hubert Robert landscapes were commissioned for Pavlovsk. The couple purchased ninety-six clocks from Europe. The Imperial Glass factory, made special chandeliers for each room.

Catherine ll the Great

Catherine the Great died in 1796, and Paul became Emperor of Russia. The reign of Emperor Paul did not last long. Paul was murdered by members of his court in 1801, and his son Alexander became Emperor. Pavlovsk Palace became the residence of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, Maria Feodorovna died on October 24, 1828, fourteen days after her sixty-seventh birthday. She left the house to her younger son, Michael, and specified that none of the furniture should be taken away. After Michael's death, it went to the second son of Nicholas I, Constantine Nikolayevich. It then passed to his widow and then their eldest son, Constantine Constantinvich. Her descendants respected the will, and turned the house into a family museum, just as it was when she died.

Maria Feodorovna in mourning early 19th century

Although this famous Sèvres toilet set has been preserved Emperor Paul & Maria's Pavlovsk Palace did not far as well. The German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 took the Soviet government by surprise. The morning after the attack, the curators of Pavlovsk, under the direction of museum curator Anatoliy Kuchumov, began to pack as many of art objects as possible, starting with the Sevres porcelain toilet set given by Louis XVI to Maria Feodorovna and Paul in 1780. Ninety-six hours after the announcement of the beginning of the war, the first thirty-four crates were being carried from the palace by horse-drawn cart. Boards were put over the windows, and sand on the floor of the Palace. The thirty curators often worked by candlelight, and by July there were air raids. The paintings, chandeliers, crystal, porcellain, baes of jasper and rhodonite, rare furniture, and works of ivory and amber were packed and sent first. They worked with great care - each piece of furniture had to be carefully dismantled, porcelain vases had to be separated from the bases, and delicate clocks had to have their casing and mechanisms separated and packed separately, with diagrams on how to put them back together. One piece of each set of furniture was saved, and the others left behind. The Roman and Greek antiquities were too heavy and delicate to move, so they were taken to the basements, placed as close together as possible, and then hidden by a brick wall.

Detail of painted wall decoration

On September 16, the last soldiers left, and the Germans occupied Pavlovsk Palace, which was still occupied by a group of elderly women guardians.The Germans occupied Pavlovsk palace for two and a half years. Officers were quartered in the salons on the first floor, and the ballroom was made into a garage for cars and motorcycles. Barracks were located in the north wing and a hospital in the south wing. German soldiers, Dutch soldiers and Spanish soldiers in special units of the German army occupied the buildings in the Park. The sculpture and furniture that remained in the house and all the books of the Rossi Library were taken to Germany. The statue of Emperor Paul in the courtyard was used as a telephone pole. Fortunately the Germans did not discover the antiquities hidden behind the brick wall in the basement. Pavlovsk was liberated on January 24, 1944. When the Soviet troops arrived, the Palace had already been burning for three days. The main building of the Palace was a hollow shell, without a roof or floors. The north wall had fallen. Most of the parquet floors of the palace had been used as firewood; a few pieces were found in unburned portions of the palace near the stoves. Of the over one hundred thousand trees that had been in the park before the War, seventy thousand had been cut down or destroyed by the shelling. All the decorative bridges in the park had been blown up. Eight hundred bunkers had been dug in the park. The Rose Pavilion was gone; the Germans had used the materials to construct a fortified dugout.

Ruins of Pavlovsk Palace interior in 1944.

During most of the 2th half of the 20th century the palace was reconstructed and restored back to the period of Paul and Maria. Photographs and early plans of the palace were brought together to help with the restoration. As soon as the war ended, a search began for treasures stolen from the Palace. Curators collected pieces of furniture, fabric, the legs of tables and pieces of doors and gilded cornices from the German fortifications around the Palace. In the buildings which had been German headquarters, they found chairs , marble statues and rolled-up paintings from the Palace. They found other furniture and objects as far away as Riga, Tallinn, and in Konigsberg, in Germany.

Cupid in Pavlovsk Palace

The chief of the restoration, Feodor Oleinik, was insistent that all the restoration be faithful to the original work: "Pay attention and do not use later details," he demanded. "Only the original variant, only that done by Cameron, Brenna, Vornykhin, or Rossi." Old techniques of artisans of the eighteenth century, such as painting false marble and gilding furniture, had to be relearned and applied. A silk workshop was opened in Moscow to recreate the original woven fabrics for wall coverings and upholstery, copying the texture, color and thread counts of the originals. In forty rooms of the Palace, painted decoration on the walls and ceilings had to be precisely recreated in the original colors and designs. A Master painter and six helpers recreated the original trompe l'oeil ceilings and wall paintings. The Sèvres toilet set is now in the apartment of the Tzarina at Pavlosk Palace, exactly the same spot it was originally brought to.

About Me

I'm a antique dealer and Historical Folk artist. I created this blog to document and highlight my artwork along with my day to day life as a Artist, Antique dealer and collector. My favorite two periods in history are France's Ancien Régime, the time of French Queen Marie Antoinette 1770-1789 and the antebellum period of the American South 1830-1860. Both of theses periods ended tragically with war. I intend to explore furniture, architecture, decorative arts, culture, history, fashion and the people that made up these two fascinating periods in time. I recently moved back to my roots of Mobile, Alabama after living away for 17 years. Come and explore the restoration of my turn-of-the century Art's and crafts bungalow into a Antebellum show place.